[star rating =5/5]
UNDER the dome, among the seats made of old music the magic becomes tangible.
Pianodrome house band S!nk bring you to life with a full spectrum of new music and movement in their traveling 100-seat amphitheatre made entirely from upcycled pianos.
It was not a regular live film score but a complete spectacle with a musicality so well achieved that it is hard to believe that most of what is happening is improvised.
S!nk made us travel with prince Achmed and his flying horse to fight monsters that exist only there for an hour.
This 1926 feature film by Lotte Reiniger is based on a story from the anonymous book One Thousand and One Nights,specifically “The Story of Prince Achmed and the Fairy Paribanou”. I was familiar with the original version but today it felt new and I dare to say exceptionally different.
The amphitheatre is staggering, with threads hanging from the ceiling, lamps in every corner, lights set up to precisely follow the storyline and in the middle, three men playing multiple instruments with their hands, feet and voices; giving a new life to a story already told.
Their energy, charisma and virtuosity in playing multiple instruments blurred the line between cinema and theatre.
The audience was immersed in the concoction of images and sound coming from them and the five screens that surrounded us. At the end the rapturous applause was the best prize for this well thought out proposal.
Unpredictable and temperamental at times S!nk is one of those groups that is hard to forget. To my five-year-old son it was “the best music I have ever given him”.
Tim, Matt and Daniel have been playing together for 10 years and have done scores for the Filmhouse and Hidden door. This marvellous travelling venue created with upcycled pianos has been their most ambitious project.
Their next adventure will be the world premiere of I-piano, a children’s play by Adrian Hornsby featuring live shadow puppets and a grand piano searching for its music.
S!nk has a permanent live space until the 25thof August at the mesmerizing Pianodrome with a list of guests that sounds promising.
